Study Recommends Further Expansion For Javits Center

<B> Study Recommends Further Expansion For Javits Center</B>

By Frank Rosci

A recent addition to New York's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center has renewed interest in and stimulated business for the sprawling complex, a spokesman said.

The new exhibit hall, called the North Pavilion, spans five glass-enclosed blocks along Manhattan's West Side, fronting on the Hudson River. Built in cooperation with George Little Management Inc., a privately held exposition management company based in White Plains, N.Y., the new space, 54,400 gross square feet of exhibit space, brings the center's total exhibit space to 814,000 gross square feet. The steel-supported structure has a translucent vinyl/polyester fabric roof membrane, which allows for natural lighting over the interior during daylight hours, and is connected to the Center's Hall 1A.

The new hall--400 feet long by 136 feet wide, with a center ceiling height of 45 feet--actually is a temporary fix until expansion plans for the Center are finalized. Its 30,000 square feet of net exhibit space accommodates up to 300 10-by-10-foot exhibit booths.

Construction of the new hall was a collaborative effort between New York State--which owns the Center and operates it as a public benefit corporation--and George F. Little II, president of GLM, who initiated development of the temporary structure to help alleviate the short-term need for additional exhibit space created by the strong demand for GLM's shows.

"We believe that this is the best interim solution for our burgeoning space needs until a more permanent expansion of the Javits Center is completed," Little said. "This space will enhance the competitive position of New York City as a trade show and convention destination, although it falls far short of the actual exhibit space needed to satisfy pent-up demand."

A solution, in the form of doubling the Center's size, may be on the not-too-distant horizon, according to a major study by the Coopers & Lybrand consulting firm.

Impetus to reenergize the Javits Center came directly from Gov. George Pataki, who appointed a new management team in 1995, headed by Robert Boyle, then president and CEO of the Center, and Gerald McQueen, the Center's inspector general. Together they spearheaded the effort and brought in skilled business professionals to manage the Center's day-to-day operations.

The management team also took control of the show floor labor pool, focusing on fostering a user-friendlier atmosphere. Today, Boyle is chairman of the board and McQueen is the Center's president and CEO.

The Javits Center is a huge engine for New York business, having generated several billion dollars' worth of economic activity for the city since it opened in 1986, the spokesman said, and its expansion is linked to its recent history as one of New York City's major success stories. "Expansion, possibly in the next two to three years, is needed more than ever, since the Center now turns away as many shows as it accepts," he noted.

Rather than doubling the Center's size, though, the Coopers & Lybrand study stated that nearly 10 times the present meeting space is needed, and recommended that as much as a quarter of a million square feet should be built for that purpose alone.

The study further called for tripling the amount of ballroom space for social events and installing up to 5,500 fixed seats in an amphitheater.

As of 1996, the study pointed out, the Javits Center ranked last or next to last in exhibit hall, meeting room and ballroom space when compared with six other major show venues: Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Orlando and Philadelphia. And the convention facilities in three of those cities already have expanded or are presently under construction.

When Coopers & Lybrand analyzed the 200 largest trade shows in the United States, it found that New York ranked third, behind Chicago and Las Vegas, in attracting those shows.

In a market analysis of trade show management, meeting and convention planners indicated that up to 36 percent of major shows and conventions rotating around the country, but not presently in New York, would consider New York were Javits to expand.

The study predicted that an expansion in New York could bring an additional 20 to 23 major new trade events annually, provided sufficient facility space and hotel rooms were available. Some 6,000 new hotel rooms were added in 1998, said Fran Reiter, president and CEO of the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Several of the Javits Center's annual events currently or soon will require additional space, the study reported. Based on industry standards, the study stated that the Javits Center could expand exhibit space to 1.5 million square feet, doubling its present size, and still achieve maximum occupancy.

Taking the analysis one step further, the study reported: "These findings suggest that an expansion to as much as 1.75 million square feet of exhibit space may be supported from a market perspective." An expanded Javits Center would bring in about $113 million in revenues each year, and cost about $112 million to run, which would produce a profit of about one million dollars, the study predicted.

In addition to more opportunities for skilled workers in the expansion's construction, the ripple effect from the project would mean more entry-level jobs in the hotels, restaurants, retail stores and many other businesses expected to spring up to service an expanded Center, as well as more jobs within the Center itself, Javits officials said.